Bargaining With The Boss (Harlequin Romance) by George Catherine

Author:George, Catherine [George, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harlequin Treasury-Harlequin Romance 90s
Published: 2011-07-14T21:00:00+00:00

Far from feeling angry with James over his lovemaking, Eleri felt rather pleased with life as she drove home, apart from a slight headache. When she got to the house she made hot drinks for herself and Nico, then told him she was off to bed early for once with a book, eager to get there before her parents came home.

He eyed her narrowly. ‘You look a bit seedy, El.’

‘I’m just tired. I need some sleep. And you do too, by the way. Don’t be long.’

Upstairs Eleri swallowed a couple of painkillers, drank her hot milk, then climbed into bed to surrender to thoughts of James’s kisses and the feelings he’d aroused in her. She’d wanted James to make love to her—so badly, in fact, that she’d almost given in—but not in such a casual way, arising out of the sheer propinquity of the past few days. If—when—she took a lover for real, she would require some romance about it: flowers and music, protestations of love over a candlelit dinner, even. And why not? It was no more than a clever, efficient, and—according to James—desirable female like herself deserved. One, moreover, who was going back to independence and the job she loved. Eleri fell asleep smiling, only to wake in the small hours with a fit of sneezing. By next morning it was painfully obvious that she was unfit to serve the public.

‘I knew it,’ raged her father. ‘You wear yourself out looking after this man Kincaid, and now you are ill too.’

‘I’ve got a cold, Pa,’ she said thickly. ‘Half the population of Pennington’s got a cold. And quite a lot of them come into the coffee-shop.’

‘Straight back to bed,’ ordered her mother.

‘But I haven’t got flu,’ protested Eleri.

‘No. You’ve got a messy old cold. And if you stay in bed today you’ll get rid of it all the faster,’ said Catrin firmly. ‘I’ll go over the road to do the ordering, then I’ll pop up to see you. Your father can supervise Gianni today.’

Eleri acquiesced gratefully, filled a hot water bottle, made herself a mug of tea, commandeered the mobile phone and went back upstairs to enjoy the unexpected pleasure of being tucked up in a warm bed instead of ministering to the public in the coffee-shop. Halfway through the morning the phone rang.

‘Eleri?’ said James. ‘They told me at the coffee-shop you were ill. What’s the matter? You’ve caught my bug, of course. I knew this would happen!’

‘I’ve got a cold,’ she contradicted him. ‘A messy, unsightly cold in the head. Not flu.’

‘Are you in bed?’

‘Yes. Complete with hot water bottle, radio and gruesome thriller.’

‘Ah. Enjoying ill health?’

‘Right.’

He coughed a little, the cause embarrassment, she decided, rather than respiratory. ‘I rang to apologise again for last night.’

‘No need,’ she assured him airily. ‘I’ve forgotten all about it.’

‘How fortunate for you,’ he snapped. ‘And in case you’re worried about my eating arrangements this evening, Camilla’s coming down from London.’

Eleri scowled, unseen. ‘I wasn’t. Worried, I mean. But I’m glad you’re being taken care of.

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